There is a need to Indianise western goods and technology to gain economic democracy: Swamy

There is a need to "Indianise" western goods and technology to gain economic democracy, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said today. The BJP leader said the "western philosophy" of maximisation of profit and wealth has never been successful in the Indian context. Speaking at the 24th Bhaorao Deoras Smriti lecture here, he claimed while 45 other societies have perished over the course of human civilisation, a coordination between physical and cultural development has saved India.

"There is a need to Indianise western goods and technology to gain economic democracy," he said. Bhaorao was an RSS leader and the younger brother of former Sangh chief Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, popularly known as Balasaheb Deoras. Addressing the gathering on the topic Confluence of Culture and Economics - the emerging development paradigm, former RS MP Mahesh Chandra Sharma opined the development processes in the past "ignored" environment.

"Now any development process has to first pass the test of ecological sustainability," he said. Sharma said unemployment is a major challenge facing the world. He said the word unemployment "was never in Hindi dictionary because Indian economic environment never foresaw such situation where...a person is not allowed to work for his needs". Sharma said the concepts of decentralisation and swadeshi were the focal points for Indian economic thinking.

"Confluence of culture and economics refers not only to economic development but also intellectual development," he said. Besides Swamy and Sharma, several economists, professors from the Delhi University, bureaucrats and representative of various think tanks attended the programme.